DIGITAL DETOX: CLEAN UP YOUR DEVICE FOR POSITIVE VIBES ONLY
How does the time you spend on your digital devices make you feel? Does that time online feel well-spent? If not, it may be time for a digital detox. Walkthrough these simple steps to start removing, reorganizing, and reclaiming your way to more positivity in your digital space.
Audit Your Apps
Be selective with your apps! Do you have pages and pages of apps you don’t need on your phone? A great start to decluttering your device is doing periodic audits of what apps you have. During this audit, ask yourself, “What does this app add to my life?” Perhaps it’s entertainment or productivity. However, if it’s only an added distraction, then maybe it’s time to click ‘Delete.’ Then, keep your pages organized with a system that works for you, like grouping them in folders.
Pro Tip: Monthly app subscriptions can quickly add up. They’ll usually hook you with a free trial period first, and it can be hard to recall when those trials are up. Keep track of what apps you’re paying for by monitoring the Subscriptions section of your Settings.
If you’re on the hunt for apps that add to your journey to She, check out our blog 9 Apps to Guide Your Wellness Journey.
Turn Off Notifications
Activating your smartphone notifications may feel like a necessity: you don’t want to miss something important, right? But the more accustomed we get to the pings and rings coming from our phones, the more on edge we constantly are in anticipation of those signals. Very quickly, notifications can become disruptive and distracting in our lives! By turning off your notifications, you may find you can achieve a better focus and sense of presence in your daily life.
If turning them off cold turkey feels frightening, you can start slow. One option is to turn them off for just a trial period--commit to a day, a few days, or a week! At the end of that time period, assess how much you actually missed while your notifications were off. Another great approach is to turn them off but set aside a specific time to check in on what you might’ve missed. Most things that warrant a notification can go an hour without being addressed. So, get in a routine where you only check your notifications once an hour or once every two hours.
Clean Up Your Feed
Our social media feeds dominate our digital lives, so it’s worth taking the time to evaluate what that content provides us. Take one morning a week to get selective as you scroll--are the things being shared by the people and pages you follow adding value to your life? That value could be in a variety of forms: informational, positive, uplifting, thoughtful, or humorous content. Once you’ve identified an account that doesn’t provide one of these feelings, you can simply unfollow the account or mute its content. Social media platforms want to cater content to you, but they aren’t fool-proof in doing so. Help them out, and yourself out, by taking control of your social feeds.
Double Down: Ready to take things a step further? Be on the hunt for brands and individuals that add positivity to your feeds. We would hope SheFactor is one such brand (and that you’re already engaging with our content on Facebook and Instagram), but we also love the beauty and positivity these accounts are adding to our feed as well: Veronica Dearly, Pepper Rose, Kelley Green, and Jaclyn DiGregorio.
Take Back Your Time
Are you losing hours of your day on TikTok? Is the Screen Time report making you anxious? Trust us, we’ve been there! Luckily, there are tools to help you reduce the time you spend in front of your screen.
On iOS: Inside the Screen Time section of your Settings, there are two areas of importance--Downtime and App Limits. Through Downtime, you can schedule a period of downtime where only phone calls and apps you opt to allow will be available. Once enabled, Downtime will send you a five-minute reminder before the scheduled timeout starts. In-App Limits, you can set daily limits for apps within certain categories. For example, you might want to limit distractions by setting a limit on social media and gaming apps. Every day at midnight, these limits refresh.
For Android: On Android devices, the Digital Wellbeing section allows you to set similar limits. In Focus Mode, you can pause distracting apps. If you want to schedule those timeouts, there are individual app timers you can set some boundaries with. When you want to silence your screen, Pixel 3 and above devices allow you to turn on Do Not Disturb by simply flipping over your phone to face down. Also with Android, you can set two different profiles on your phone: work and personal, allowing any work apps to stay hidden and silent when you’re in personal mode. Talk about not taking work home with you!